Publish Date: May 14, 1979
Cover Story: A Tory Wind of Change
How TIME Covered the News: The rise of the conservative Margaret Thatcher, the U.K.’s first female prime minister, inspired confidence on both sides of the Atlantic. Nicknamed the “Iron Lady” for her stern governing style, Thatcher would define a whole era of British politics.
“For the first time in five years, Britain has a majority government that appears capable of ruling the country for a full five-year term. That electoral stability allows Thatcher to confront the unions head on—if she so chooses. The big question facing Britain now is whether the determined Iron Lady, having gained the pinnacle of political success, will act according to the sharp words that sometimes marked her campaign rhetoric, or the conciliatory ones of St. Francis that she quoted so movingly on the doorstep of No. 10.”